Faience pectoral amulet. Perforated horizontally for stringing, shrine-shaped plaque. The top border of the shrine is modeled and accented with black, but the other details are painted in black beneath the final coat of glaze. The central design is surrounded by a border. The border pattern on the top and sides consists of two narrow lines connected by sets of three perpendicular lines separated by blank spaces. On the bottom, the border consists of a bar of seventeen continuous simple shrines with doors. Within the border are two shrines with decorated cornices and doors, very similar in shape to the pectoral itself. Atop each shrine is a recumbent jackal, which face each other in antithetical composition. Their tails hang down behind the shrines, and their ears are alert. Each wears a magical tie or collar. There are different epithets above and behind each jackal. Since the jackals represent Anubis, the god of mummification, this pectoral is a purely funerary type of amulet. It would have rested on the chest of a mummy.

Inscription(s)

Two hieroglyphic inscriptions, one above and behind each jackal. Above the left jackal: inpw imy wt = Anubis who is embalmer. Above the right: inpw hnty w`bt ntr = Anubis who is before the god’s place of embalming.

Label

The central design of this amulet consists of a pair of jackals facing each other, each seated atop a shrine. The jackals represent Anubis, the ancient Egyptian god of embalming, who was also the guardian of the cemetery. Above and behind each jackal are hieroglyphs giving two of the common epithets of Anubis: "Anubis who is embalmer," and "Anubis who is before the gods place of embalming." The amulet itself is in the form of a shrine, and is pierced for suspending on a cord. Since the jackals represent Anubis, the god of mummification, this pectoral is a purely funerary type of amulet. It would have been placed on the chest of the mummy to ensure its safe passage into the next life.

Provenance

To 1907
Dikran G. Kelekian (1868-1951), Cairo, Egypt, Paris, France, and New York to 1907 [1]